


The Sun will Smile

by therearenobananasinthesky



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Apollo (Percy Jackson) is a Good Parent, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Post-The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo), apollo and artemis are bros, apollo is a horny bastard, its implied that apollo has sex with austins mom but i dont actually say it because thats gross, most of the olympians are bad parents, no beta reader we die like men, those three campers from tower of nero
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:20:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therearenobananasinthesky/pseuds/therearenobananasinthesky
Summary: After his time as a mortal, Apollo decides he wants to be a better dad.
Relationships: Apollo & Apollo Cabin, Apollo & Austin Lake, Apollo & Camp Half-Blood Campers, Apollo & Kayla Knowles, Apollo & Kayla Knowles & Austin Lake & Will Solace, Apollo & Will Solace
Comments: 8
Kudos: 240





	The Sun will Smile

**Author's Note:**

> At the beginning of writing this I decided to keep it in the same year that it canonically takes place and i Struggled. like. what even is a 2011? I was 8 and listening to KidzBop and the Barbie Princess and the Pauper soundtrack.  
> also like what even is a title is that a good title i have no idea

Seeing the demigod camps during his time as a mortal definitely changed Apollo.

Jason’s voice kept resonating in his head, “Don’t forget what it’s like to be human”. And he had been offended at first, but god did he keep thinking about it. 

He had seen the dejection in the eyes of the campers. The ones unclaimed in cabin 11, despite the promise they all made to Percy. And he knew he had to be better.

He started out small. Around August after the events in Nero’s tower, before the summer campers began leaving, he showed up unannounced to take his kids to a Broadway show. He took them to see Wicked: Kayla and Austin had almost tricked him into taking them to that Daniel Radcliffe musical, but thankfully Will called them out. He shuddered to think of what the younger campers would have thought seeing Harry Potter strip onstage. The campers all loved the show, and Apollo even tried to get the number of Fiyero’s actor. It didn’t work. The entire drive back (Apollo had borrowed a minibus from camp), they discussed the musical and whether or not Elphaba and Glinda were secretly in a lesbian romance.

After that, he made sure to make note of all his kids’ birthdays so that he could give gifts to them, in person when it was possible. At the end of August, he gave Will a travel first aid kit that would never run out of band-aids or antibiotic. Yan, who had ended up deciding to stay year-round, was ecstatic to wake up one day in September to find that their dad had given them a set of fine tube watercolors. Gracie, who seemed to take after the knowledge aspect of Apollo’s godly powers, received a bag in November that acted as a miniature library: basically, it was enchanted so that you could put in as many books as you like, and you could take out any book that was in there just by thinking about it. One of his older kids, Jake, received a book of poetry in April.

In October, he found out that his cabin actually had an archery team where they would participate in competitions, with Kayla as team captain. He showed up and was thoroughly impressed by the talent of not only his kids but also of their competition. No one cheered louder than him when Kayla’s team won, and he congratulated them afterward. They looked shocked that he showed up but thankful and extremely happy.

In November, he took the kids still in Cabin 7 on another field trip, this time to an Adele concert. They all enjoyed themselves very much, crying during Someone Like You and belting out Rolling in the Deep.

In December was another concert: Austin had decided to go home that year to his mom, Latricia, rather than staying at camp and was playing saxophone in his school’s winter concert. He even had a solo in the jazz band’s rendition of Sleigh Ride. He showed up in the same form that he did when he first met Latricia, and, well… let’s just say that Austin might be having another sibling soon. 

In February, he took his kids at camp skiing for a weekend. While none of them were very good at it, they had a lot of fun. In the end, much more time was spent in the lodge with hot chocolate and a good book than actual skiing, but they all agreed they liked it better that way.

The rest of the spring went on like that, little trips to his kids both at camp and at their own houses. He picked up the kids at the cabin for many more field trips once everybody was back at camp for the summer. He took them to more Broadway shows, concerts, and even some slam poetry. They all laughed after Apollo was kicked out of one for his 100th haiku. He took them to MoMA a few times as well.

In September, he had heard that a movie about a college acapella group was coming out, called _Pitch Perfect_. He took his kids in Cabin 7 to see it, and they loved it, though they spent the entire ride home complaining about how inaccurate it is to acapella. After that, they became dedicated to learning the Pool Mashup and performed it for Apollo in November. He was so impressed, and may or may not have cried. He didn’t think even he could have managed to separate the parts to learn it without even sheet music and just the audio, but Kayla managed to do it fantastically. 

And if he noticed that his offerings were slowly getting bigger and sweeter than those of the other Olympians, well, he wouldn’t be so arrogant as to point that out. Not after his time as a mortal, anyways.

He was so excited about getting to know his kids that he told everybody at the Winter Solstice council. “My kids are really appreciating the time spent with them, you guys should really try it!”

Athena looked at him skeptically while Ares scoffed. Dionysus, however, replied, “The other kids at camp keep giving looks at your children recently, I think they may be a bit jealous.”

Ares jumped up out of his garish throne, “How DARE you make us look bad! We’ve been doing it the same way for centuries!”

Artemis rolled her eyes, “It seems to me that you’re making _yourself_ look bad, brother. Perhaps you could try what Apollo has been doing, and make an effort to be a good parent.”

Aphrodite glared at her, “Like you’re one to talk, you can’t even deign to lower yourself to even have children.”

“Funny you should say that,” Artemis deadpanned, “because I believe my hunters would most _certainly_ disagree with that statement, given that I spend nearly all my time with them.”

Zeus, however, was not convinced. “Well, I’m sure that’s fine with someone as inconsequential of a job as Apollo, but _some_ of us actually have responsibilities, we couldn’t possibly have the time to pay attention to every single one of our children.” Athena and Demeter nodded in agreement.

Hades raised his eyebrows, “It’s really not that difficult to show your children that you care. I am constantly working to maintain the ever-growing Underworld, and yet I still find time to devote to young Hazel and Nico.”

Poseidon nodded, “I may have missed the first twelve years of Percy’s life for his safety given the oath, but once he was claimed I’ve made sure to know that I love him.”

The argument continued for the rest of the council, but in the end, Artemis and Apollo high-fived each other, seeing that they had convinced the rest of the Olympians, save maybe Zeus, to be better parents.


End file.
